Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With a B+ overall, Nassau is better than 72% of U.S. towns and ranks 226th of 745 in New York. Health is its strong suit: it is healthier than 86% of U.S. towns. It is strong on schools as well (A−): its schools outperform just over four fifths of the state's. Homes run about $263K for a typical one, 3 times the Albany metro’s $88K median household income. What holds it back is walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Henry Tunis Smith Farm and Church Street Historic District. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 94% of U.S. towns, with 6 places on the National Register.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Nassau beats most towns.
Census counts: 2,873 in 1820, a low of 2,015 in 1920, 4,545 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 3 maps from 1893 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Nassau is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Nassau. Close and well known come first.
20 mi MountainMount Greylock
18 mi TheatreTanglewood
20 mi MuseumClark Art Institute
21 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell Museum
12 mi MuseumUSS Slater
13 mi Stadium & arenaMVP ArenaMount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, Public domain · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5 · USS Slater: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · MVP Arena: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Nassau, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Nassau.
Nassau has less food insecurity than most of New York and sends most of its workers to Albany and beyond, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
Its widest gap with New York is food insecurity: 9.3% of its 3,466 adults worry about having enough food, against 17.2% statewide.
Nassau: 30% of adults feel lonely. Among adults locally, 18% binge drink, above both the New York town median (17%) and the median of U.S. towns (16%). Against the New York average, Nassau comes out ahead on 13 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 2.
| Nassau | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 19% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Nassau | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.3% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.6% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its one school is below. The East Greenbush Central School District runs its public schools. Enrollment at Nassau’s public school: 250 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donald P Sutherland SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 250 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
Nassau has 301 jobs for its 2,131 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Among workers in Nassau, 17% work remotely from home, where New York’s towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 11%. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 4% of working residents work locally. Its mean commuting time stands at 28 minutes. The top destinations are Albany (20%), Colonie (12%) and East Greenbush (9%).
| Nassau | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 17% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.3% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $93,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The biggest park or preserve is Snake mountain (future), at 170 acres. Trails total 11 miles in 6 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails in Nassau is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Nassau | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kinderhook Creek Nature Preserve | 4.3 mi | 84 |
| 2. Stewart Preserve | 1.4 mi | 108 |
| 3. Albert Family Community Forest | 1.1 mi | 116 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 15° and about 53 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 87% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $349 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA puts 74% of Nassau’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 9% to tornadoes. For Nassau, the FEMA risk score is 66 of 100. The town has had 68 paid flood insurance claims since 1979.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Four-year graduates: 31% of adults 25 and older here, 40% across New York. No age group stands out against New York: all are within 4 points. The share of residents in Nassau who are 65 or older: 18%.
| Nassau | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 41.6 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
46% women, 54% men
About 118 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.1 points). Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 71% are men (NY 50%).
| Nassau | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.1% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.3% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.4% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.7% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.9% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.8% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.6% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.2% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.1% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.4% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.5% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.3% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.5% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.2% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,500, single groups can be off by several points
For Nassau, the going rate for rent is $1,213 a month. 76% of households live in a home they own locally.
| Nassau | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,213 a month | $1,098 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
9 within 15 miles of the center of Nassau
About 5 of every 100 Nassau residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Nassau’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Nassau on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Nassau.
Town in Rensselaer County, New York, US
Nassau is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 4,545 in 2020, down from 4,789 at the 2010 census. The Town of Nassau is at the southern border of the county.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Nassau.
Stephentown next door grades lower for schools (C to Nassau’s A−) and higher for cost of living (A to C+).
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nassau | #226 | B+ | C+ | — | A− | A |
| Schodack | #78 | A | C+ | A | A− | A |
| Nassau | — | — | B− | A | A− | A− |
| Nassau Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stephentown | #284 | B | A | — | C | A− |
| Sand Lake | #80 | A | B− | — | A− | A |
| East Nassau | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Chatham | #426 | B− | C | — | C+ | A |
Nassau has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Nassau, Stephentown, Sand Lake and Chatham report no FBI crime data of their own. Nassau Lake and East Nassau aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Nassau with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Nassau grades B+ overall, better than 72% of U.S. towns and #226 of 745 in New York. It grades A for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
The typical home is worth about $263,000, 50% below the New York typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
3 notable people were born here, including Fenner Ferguson and John Augustus Griswold.
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